Photo by Vince Fedoroff
EDUCATION REFORMS SET – Judy Arnold (left), the deputy minister of education, discusses the planned curriculum changes during Monday’s news conference at Selkirk Elementary School. Nicole Morgan, the assistant deputy minister of learning, looks on. Inset Tracy-Anne McPhee
Picture it: a class of giddy 12-year-olds paddling a fleet of canoes across a Yukon lake on a sunny spring day.
Picture it: a class of giddy 12-year-olds paddling a fleet of canoes across a Yukon lake on a sunny spring day.
As they dip and push their paddles through the sparkling water, they’re getting exercise and participating in a northern cultural activity.
Rippling through the water behind the canoes is a plankton net, catching little critters students will study later, for science.
When the group reaches land, students haul their canoes ashore before sitting down to lunch by the edge of the lake.
As they eat, the teacher leads the class in a discussion about their roles in protecting the environment. They talk about whose traditional territory they’re in, and what the lake means to that First Nation.
The next day, back in the classroom, the students write about what they learned out on the lake.
This is the kind of learning experience the new Kindergarten-to-Grade-12 curriculum could offer, Nicole Morgan, the assistant deputy minister of learning in the Department of Education, told a press conference Monday.
The Yukon government is rolling out a redesigned curriculum for public schools starting this fall, Minister of Education Tracy-Anne McPhee announced Monday.
The new curriculum is based on B.C.’s recently revised curriculum, but is tailored to fit the Yukon.
The redesign weaves “Yukon First Nations ways of knowing and doing” into all grades, McPhee said from a podium set up in the library of Selkirk Elementary School.
“It will also build student capacity for intercultural understanding and mutual respect.”
The new curriculum will be “very flexible,” said education officials. Learning will draw upon students’ experiences, and connect them to their communities.
Changes include more opportunities for hands-on learning, and outdoor and indoor experiential learning at all grade levels.
Toronto-based Ryerson University’s Learning and Teaching Office describes “experiential learning” as “learning by doing.”
Students are immersed in an experience and then encouraged to reflect on that experience as a way of learning a new skill or concept.
“We know, because research shows, that the more connected the learner is to what they’re learning about, the better they will do,” said Morgan, a former teacher.
The redesign also includes lessons in finance and careers, starting in Kindergarten, and continuing through Grade 12.
These curriculum changes reflect global trends in education, said McPhee.
Another major change is the elimination of the five mandatory B.C. provincial exams.
These will be replaced with two new provincial exams, one for each literacy and numeracy.
Starting January, 2018, students who have finished Grade 10 will write the numeracy exam, with opportunities to re-write it, if they so choose.
The literacy exam will be written by Grade 12 students starting in the 2018-19 school year.
Literacy and numeracy remain at the core of Yukon school programming, assured Judy Arnold, the deputy minister of education, and raising graduation rates is a primary goal.
Students will require the same numbers of courses and credits to graduate as they do now, and they will still write tests and get report cards.
Existing First Nations and residential school programming will also remain the same for now, confirmed Jason Mackey, a Department of Education spokesperson.
The new curriculum will be phased into the Yukon’s 30 schools gradually, starting in September 2017 for Kindergarten to Grade 9, and September 2018 for Grades 10 to 12.
Full implementation is expected to take a few years.
In developing the new curriculum, the Department of Education drew upon Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow, the seminal document drafted by the Yukon Native Brotherhood that set the stage for negotiating First Nation land claims in the Yukon.
The department also looked to a 2009 Auditor General’s report on Yukon public schools, which found a wide gap in graduation rates between First Nations and non-First Nations students.
“Here, and across Canada, there continues to be a gap in the experiences and outcomes between First Nations and Non-First Nations students, rural and Whitehorse students,” said McPhee.
“These changes support the work of reconciliation and the success of First Nations students.”
As part of the curriculum overhaul, all current and future teachers will take First Nations 101, a cultural competency course offered by Yukon College.
This directive is in line with a recommendation of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.
It calls on governments to provide public servants education in the culture and history of indigenous peoples, including the legacy of residential schools, treaties, aboriginal rights and more.
“We want us all to have a common understanding of the impacts of residential schools, how we move forward with truth and reconciliation, and move to the kind of partnership that we want that results in success for all of our students,” said Arnold.
The department will host public information sessions across Yukon over the next few months to introduce the new curriculum and answer questions.
The first three sessions – two in English and one in French – will occur in Whitehorse.
The English sessions will be at 7:00 this evening at F.H. Collins Secondary School and at 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at Elijah Smith Elementary School.
The French-language session, to be co-hosted with the Yukon Francophone School Board, is currently being scheduled.
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Comments (52)
Up 1 Down 0
Francis on Jan 30, 2017 at 8:24 pm
More laissez faire Yukon Party governance that needs correction. I agree with the poster who was lauding the German ed system. There you are channelled at a very early age into the fields that you show aptitude for. Math and other subjects for the trades is different for those going into commercial enterprise as is what's required for engineering, medicine, etc. By an early age I mean Grade 9. Experience based learning is great in any field but you can't sacrifice the basics for that. We all need certain life skills training that is usually picked up in the school of hard knocks but need not be. Let's all go camping but make sure we have the training to do the jobs that we are suited for and like. Why little Dawson Creek even used to have a credit earning program for entrepreneurial challenges that some will evolve to. Early identification of skills, likes, wants would save a lot of headaches and be far more efficient. I hope that doesn't sound elitist because I certainly am not one of those but I am a Liberal. When I was going to school the elitists were more predominately from Conservative families who wanted for very little in comparison to the regular folk. We just voted out the elitists.
Up 1 Down 1
Glass_of_Teachers_for_me_please on Jan 30, 2017 at 4:04 pm
if you can't do, teach.
if you can't teach teach the teachers.
if you can't teach the teachers, teach gym.
if you can't teach gym, apply for a job as an administrator in the Dept of Education.
Up 16 Down 8
nosedive on Jan 30, 2017 at 3:15 pm
If you can't do, teach.
If you can't teach, teach gym.
If you can't teach gym, retool the entire Yukon curriculum.
Up 22 Down 6
north_of_60 on Jan 28, 2017 at 5:02 pm
The Dept of Ed bureaucrats continue to spout meaningless platitudes, while everyone pretends to ignore the huge moose in the room which is the real reason for this watered-down attempt to get more graduates. Just keep dumbing down the curriculum until everyone graduates with inadequate skills for further education or a productive life. Of course there's always government service for those who then can't cope with the real world of responsible employment. The people flogging this agenda seem to think their way is best for everyone else. Isn't is wonderful to be governed by inept elites?
Up 6 Down 19
How many negative people know anything about on Jan 28, 2017 at 11:33 am
education because some of their comments do not make any sense. Who cares for the kids. A lot of people here that know-it-all. Hope for common sense is still out there, some where in the mountains of the Yukon.
Up 2 Down 25
Yukon Teacher on Jan 28, 2017 at 8:10 am
@ overworked and underpaid please understand the workload we teachers are under. Some support and understanding would be nice. I do think that the creation of three sessions a year of about a week long in Whitehorse for teachers to plan would help us create a better learning environment for students. Call them field trips for teachers if you will. Much needed!!
Up 16 Down 1
Jonathan Colby on Jan 27, 2017 at 8:42 pm
I should add, that if educators are being held hostage by funding, I'd like to hear more on that. I want curriculum changes to acknowledge systems that have been shown to succeed. I want a good curriculum. I have not heard of this before this week, and now all public meetings are Q&A, and input has passed. BC might have an entire system set up for a considerable population, so it feels as if they invest their time on a project, it means due diligence has been done. But the BC government has been eroding the education systems for as long as my reckoning goes. I have doubts.
You have to understand the optics of a paucity of public accessible avenues to review specifics on implementation, yet language that suggests a whole new implementation method is coming. Understand the optics of language which suggest a looser attitude towards rigor and more hostility towards repetition, when rigor and repetition are demonstrably good stresses that reinforces the contents of instruction.
My kid missed the entire final section of math instruction because time ran out, just last year, because the teacher had freedom to define the schedule. That should not be. People have said we shouldn't be throwing the baby out with the bath water, but I suggest that we should have a more difficult conversation about the reasons for student struggle. While the structure of instruction without a doubt requires refinement, curriculum change shouldn't be seen as a panacea for academic performance, educator satisfaction, and student mental-health.
Up 14 Down 5
ProScience Greenie on Jan 27, 2017 at 5:16 pm
Concerned - for the record I truly believe that the vast majority of Yukon teachers are awesome both in school and as neighbors and friends. We are very lucky that way. It's your boss's bosses and above that are the issue.
Up 22 Down 1
Jonathan Colby on Jan 27, 2017 at 8:41 am
To the BnR teacher tut tutting us all:
I tried to read the curriculum. It routed me to the BC government website. So, if we have a system based on BC, but tweaked for the Yukon, where are the tweaks? Where is the website that explains that?
In addition, I'm less interested in the curriculum outline than how the classroom time will be divided between these teacher-led (or designed) initiatives at learning, and instruction and memorization.
Regarding materials, I have seen none. No sample exercises, no reference material, no reference to reference material, nothing. That's where the proof is. Numeracy is my main area of concern, because the bottom is falling out of discovery math, but I wouldn't mind seeing the science materials as well.
Maybe if we started addressing the issues that prevent children from learning, we wouldn't have to re-engineer our programs to make sure the least of them don't fail. Failure is not a bad thing. Tweak your paradigm, not the program, I say. Graduation rates are not important. Say it with me. If we use this metric at all, it invariably invites the idea that higher rates = better, where quality of results and other important metrics, which can be more difficult to quantify, are ignored or avoided.
I'm sorry the system is broken, but this isn't the way forward. Again, where is the precendent? Where are the studies tha have looked at this method and said, " This has proven to be a success." There ARE very successful systems out there. Why are we fumbling in the dark?
And for the record, I don't trust teachers to do a good job being the architect of their own curriculum. My kids report watching, or other classes watching, TV shows at school (admittedly, not frequently, but still: TV at school? We're not talking documentaries here...). Spring break is still 2 weeks long, and as soon as the snow melts, many instructors eschew the remaining lessons so that the kids can "be outside and healthy." Wat?
In short: many educators I've seen, or have been taught by, we're not very engaged, and not very effective. The ones that were effective had very clear, defined material for the whole year, exercises with actual answers (not guesses), and tests that were a direct reflection of the content and style of the material. It isn't all teachers, but it's enough to make me worried.
And after all this, I have to ask: When did memorization become the enemy? Because that's how you get a solid education: make certain facts inalienable from a person, and build on that. Use TA resources to help the stragglers. Invest more social interest, as a school board, in the lives of children who have problems outside the school that inhibit learning. That requires more funding, which Im sure some hardliners will poopoo, but if you're in for a penny...
People are angrt because, what this all seems to boil down to is, education departments don't want it fixed based on the reality, they want a school program that suits them, but without putting in too much effort.
Prove me wrong. Publish the exercises and learning material. Until you do, it's just words, fluffy fluffy words.
Words are wind.
Up 20 Down 10
Why would any one in the Yukon want to be a teacher on Jan 26, 2017 at 10:45 pm
when you have all these know-it-alls on education. Get a life - experts that are full of BS
Up 21 Down 2
Concerned on Jan 26, 2017 at 8:50 pm
Pro science Greenie, in one way you are right. Many of the comments are well thought out, articulate and show a general heart felt concern for our future students. However, for whatever reason, you think all educators are to blame for this change. We are not. There are some benefits, but we are told how we have to teach. Some of us use what we can to show innovation, and some of us teach very differently to try to reach most children. We are also limited by funds. We must budget for school buses and trips and costs to have elders come in, but do not know where this will come from. Also, how do we measure the advances of some children. I too have children I want to be able to compete for excellent jobs or at least something in which they will be successful and happy. Do not blame us for doing our jobs. Most of us have the best interest of the children at heart. That is why we stay even after we have physically and verbally abused.
Up 26 Down 2
NeilAlexGeddy on Jan 26, 2017 at 5:48 pm
I surely hope that counterpoints and debate will be offered for these children because the way this article is presented, especially the thoughts expressed by Ms. Morgan do indeed make this sound like social engineering. I am picturing a generation of apologists, and professional protesters who bow in unison to Dear Leaders Suzuki and Soros. As a parent of a school aged child this is definitely concerning.
Up 5 Down 11
Link to the details on Jan 26, 2017 at 5:04 pm
http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/17-008.html#.WIqb6lw_zR5 From what I can see, this change doesn't mean standards or performance requirements change, but rather the method of teaching 'might'. Not such a bad thing maybe - but the Star and the Dept of Education could have done a better job of reporting/communicating, that's for sure.
Up 23 Down 10
underpaid_and_overworked_my_ass on Jan 26, 2017 at 5:02 pm
"we do not get near enough PD days to prepare. Think of the Children!!" Oh please !! Give us all a break ! You only have about 5 months during the summer to 'prepare' , unlike regular workers who get 4 weeks off if they are lucky ! ( how can you tell when the planeload of teachers arrive at the airport ? When the engines turn off you can still hear the whining. )
Up 11 Down 26
Both of my children went Yukon High schools on Jan 26, 2017 at 4:11 pm
and went to two of the top universities in Canada and did very well and now looking at going to graduate school. Principal and VP, staff and teachers were great. All this negative talk does nothing to help any of our children. Wilf Carter
Why do some very angry people make comments in the media?
Up 32 Down 1
no name on Jan 26, 2017 at 4:05 pm
I'm so glad I went through an education system where I actually learned life skills that can be used in my real life as I grew up and got a job. I also learned respect, consequence and other basic life skills like being reliable.
I don't disagree that this should be added to education but it shouldn't be added to eliminate other parts of education. And it should be an elective similar to culinary, shop classes, phy ed, etc when they get to that place in education. That's when you start to branch off to figure out what you want to do past high school.
You don't like exams? None of us do. Did we do them? Yes. Did some of us fail? Yes. Do kids now? no, we can't fail them anymore.
Some people learn differently as well. I get that. But I'm not sure how never testing kids will get them anywhere in the "real" world. What will happen when upgrading is required and the college no longer exists because it will be a university and won't take anyone at that level?
Up 6 Down 45
Yukon Teacher on Jan 26, 2017 at 2:59 pm
I am dismayed by the negative comments I am seeing Here. What about the overworked and unappreciated Teachers? This will allow us more time for preparation and reflection. After all we do not get near enough PD days to prepare. Think of the Children!!
Up 27 Down 3
ralpH on Jan 26, 2017 at 2:40 pm
What ever the DM and ADM are on, I'll take two.
Up 25 Down 5
ProScience Greenie on Jan 26, 2017 at 2:25 pm
COME ON PEOPLE! - most understand and do not care for the changes. Most comments are articulate and come with critical thinking. What part of that don't you get? And if a decade from now these changes make little difference will you be willing to be held accountable for the collateral damage caused? Good on you for being an educator but you work for us, the people, not the other way around.
Up 34 Down 10
Einsten'sBigBrother on Jan 26, 2017 at 12:01 pm
Educashun is gr8 in da Yukon , dude . I got me an iPhone from me granpa wiv me Yukon College (Grade13) diploma , innit? So I can txt wiv me homeys about where we is going to meet up for downing a few mickeys by the riva Yukon . I is readdy for da Real World , no doubt . LOL , OMG , WTF , dude !
Up 32 Down 3
Degrees on Jan 26, 2017 at 11:21 am
What are the benchmarks being used to measure the success of this new curriculum? And by what process will the success of this program be reliably measured? Benchmarks need to be identified and stated, and processes for collecting data and measuring student results against those benchmarks and against the current curriculum need to developed. Otherwise, how will anyone know what the success and failures of this new experiment are?
I am open to some the things being presented in the new curriculum, but the bottom line is I want my kids fully prepared for post secondary education. In my mind, that should be a top priority of K-12 education. I'm not convinced removing exam-setting experiences is appropriate, because I don't see post-secondary institutions moving in that direction. Children who cannot succeed in exam settings throughout K-12 will probably not go on to post secondary educations anyway. They will choose other paths to do more hands on work and trades. And that is fine. But the children that have the potential to move on to become doctors and engineers and scientists ARE able to succeed in exam settings in K-12, and we have to foster and develop that skill.
We cannot remove such important aspects of our education system just to cater to the children that will not venture on to the difficult post secondary programs, regardless of how many or how few exams they have to endure. We shouldn't be holding back the academically proficient students (in the classic sense of the term) only to cater to the general population.
I'm also concerned about the number of Professional Development days this may result in. Every time there is a 'PD' day, parents either have to take a day off work, or find child care, whether they can afford it or not. This is incredibly burdening for everyone. It can be financially burdening for many. I believe my child's school had 2 PD days within the first month or month and a half of school this year. That's crazy. I don't see any reason why teachers cannot do these PD days the week before school starts. If that's not going to change, I'm scared for how many extra PD days this may mean during the school year, so that teachers can be trained on the new curriculum.
Up 26 Down 17
Just Say'in on Jan 25, 2017 at 11:28 pm
I think it is the teachers that are looking for a new way to teach that does not include them going to the classroom.
The teachers now are spending way to much time trying to socially engineer our children from a decidedly left leaning position.
This is all well if you think the world needs more Humanities and Fine arts degrees. But if you believe we need more Engineers and Entrepreneurs followed by Trades people then we are worlds apart.
Up 10 Down 42
COME ON PEOPLE! on Jan 25, 2017 at 7:54 pm
WOW! such negativity from people who are for the most parts not educators. I am a teacher, born and raised in the north and I've worked in the crappy system we have for the majority of my career. We all know we are behind here in education and when we finally get a group in the Dept who are tackling this head on and making some major changes instead of just tweaking a broken ancient system there is an outcry from the public! Where is your support to improve the system? Why not get informed before you jump to all sorts of conclusions? How many of you actually checked out the new curriculum before you took to your key boards? As an educator I can tell you that this new curriculum is ground breaking and will improve the outcomes for all of our kids. I say good job Judy and Nicole! It is about time someone had the courage to make some big changes!
Up 37 Down 15
Wayne on Jan 25, 2017 at 6:06 pm
The Yukon's teachers are the highest paid in Canada. The school system is in place for the benefit of teachers and administrators, not students and parents.
Up 33 Down 4
timesall ... to whatabout on Jan 25, 2017 at 4:27 pm
The rigidity of the traditional system is to provide basics to allow for independence. The inclusion and non assimilation of every facet or trait with less emphasis on necessity will lead to dependence. 75% government employees; Trump is attempting to cut 10.1 trillion gov jobs
you're right
times are changing.
Produce or go stand in the poverty line.
To wilf - Yes have been taught by Ms. Morgan; not a pleasurable experience.
Up 4 Down 30
One of the weaknesses our education system has had on Jan 25, 2017 at 3:24 pm
is determining if children have learning disabilities. Then a program can be put in place to help them. I have dyslexia, which it makes difficult to spell or write properly as you all can see.
Blaming the education system, for children problems, is not the way to go.
Get out and find what the real need is for our children. Helping them to become better people is what counts.
How many of you voters on Ms. Morgan teaching, actual know her and voted her down.
If you did than you are the problem. Wilf Carter
Up 7 Down 45
what about? on Jan 25, 2017 at 3:19 pm
...so for all you naysayers.. the ones who want testing and strict-"sit down shut up and work" type education... what do you say to the hundreds of traumatized students who cannot learn to read just yet because their emotional and physical needs are not being met yet.. what do you say to those children who become physically ill when it comes to exams and such, so they fail every exam... even better, what happens to the students who have amazing artistic talent, but cannot memorize social studies facts in grade 10 - do we just throw them to the wolves and say "oh well"..? I think not, this new curriculum creates an opportunity for students to learn in different ways.
I don't imagine you all have gone to look at the curriculum yourselves? I wonder why you think that students need to be taught hard facts one way, when university isn't like that... or do you just assume it is? I am a recent university graduate (within the past 5 years) and now, I am in a distance masters program, and more of what I learned in an alternative education setting than I ever did sitting in a high school class room learning the way you all want students to learn.
Get over it, understand that the world is changing, and with it, education must too.
Up 50 Down 3
Jonathan Colby on Jan 25, 2017 at 12:58 pm
I can walk into the classroom of my son in Grade 2 and find at least 3 outrageous spelling errors on the TA/Teacher made materials hung on the wall. One was (or still is) "loose" instead of "lose." Focus on phonetic learning instead of FACTUAL learning has left my kids with a deficit in spelling. Seriously, homework with spelling errors are not corrected, unless the exercise is spelling. What?
I hate that I have to be so vigilant and militant about education standards. I also despise the fact that we follow BC, considering the BCTA and government have both acted so acidly at each other, that I can't trust that their curriculum changes are reflective of a "bang-for-your-buck" business interpretation of education services.
This sort of thing sounds great, but, with the multidirectional approach to math solutions, and the phonetic AND proper spelling being taught at the same time, AND now we're going to throw in this experiential stuff that may or may not srick, depending on how closely you live to that lifestyle outside the class, I can't help but feel confused. Why is it easier for kids to learn how to do math 4 different ways without a focus on the correct answer, 2 different ways of spelling, but differing standards on when it's ok to use each, and then add experiences that may not actually reflect the life they live, and maybe not want?
How is it better for kids to be educated without focus, without defined parameters and purpose?
Our education system isn't perfect, but I'd rather the government and teachers come out with a curriculum that says, "Long term studies show success is best brought about by this strategy, so we're implementing this strategy." All of this rhetoric leaves me to believe our children are being manipulated by half-baked social engineers and self-interested teacher's associations.
Up 45 Down 5
Groucho d'North on Jan 25, 2017 at 12:43 pm
Reverse racism is still racism. It may be well and good for the government to bend over backwards to fulfill some acknowledgement to reconciliation. But Yukon's school age children will end up paying the real cost in the future.
Up 50 Down 3
June Jackson on Jan 25, 2017 at 11:34 am
Jeez..I am so glad I don't have any children at home anymore. I feel sorry for young parents today looking ahead to years where their children can not read, write, or basic addition. Already, this generation is in trouble because they can't function without a cell phone.
Up 48 Down 1
Moose Dr. on Jan 25, 2017 at 10:15 am
I am cautious about these changes. I have two children in school, and I sincerely want them to be prepared for the entire world, not just for our local slice of heaven.
That said, our school already offers interesting stuff for my children like: snow shoeing, ice fishing, HEED course, and a bison hunt. The administration is not starting from zero with its move towards culturally relevant education.
For me the scariest part of this proposal is "less testing". That sounds to me like lower standards. I do enjoy having my children develop a sense of the land, and of the first peoples of this land. However, I do not want to see math, science, reading, writing, and humanities weaken for it.
Up 47 Down 2
A Parent on Jan 25, 2017 at 9:18 am
Oh dear. I already have one kid who has graduated without the study skills needed to succeed in university. Now they are watering down the curriculum even more, just in time for my next kid.
The FNAC course my kids had to take was a joke. Seriously, watch a 160-minute long movie about blue people on another planet (Avatar, a.k.a. Pocahontas), and reflect on what it means for Yukon First Nations? Yes, that's the quality of content that's being offered in our high schools.
I guess it's a good thing Yukon College is here to offer upgrading.
Too bad we didn't vote in the NDP; didn't they promise to make those Yukon College courses free for locals?
Up 53 Down 3
Tom Stevens on Jan 25, 2017 at 9:03 am
A couple of things... Ms Arnold has brought a ton of bad ideas to the Yukon and to be completely honest, how she has managed to be the flavor of the day is mind boggling. Why is the goal to continually lower the bar? This will be awesome for all the teachers who like to get out hunting and fishing on the Education dime calling it experiential learning. Less than half of eligible Yukon students have accessed the available monies to attend post secondary education. Why do we want to further reduce that number by providing Yukon students less preparation for attending an academic post secondary institution in a place that does not specialize in canoeing?
Much of the Yukon school environment is already dumbed down enough with courses like "sled ed". Really Judy.....
Up 17 Down 32
Born&Raised on Jan 25, 2017 at 7:56 am
Lots of people jumping to conclusions here... let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater folks.
Two important things to address:
1)"Changes include more opportunities for hands-on learning, and outdoor and indoor experiential learning at all grade levels." ...Opportunities being the key word.
2)"Students will require the same numbers of courses and credits to graduate as they do now, and they will still write tests and get report cards."
It seems to me that the changes to come are providing the system more options for experiential learning. Simply increasing flexibility to offer these outside-the-classroom experiences.
Speaking from experience - as a Vanier graduate of 2012 - the students who signed up for experiential learning classes (outdoor education > traditional gym class, a semester of ACES, and so on..) were some of the best and brightest. I fully support increasing the offering of these experiences to students who are capable of excelling in them.
To be clear, these experiential learning classes did not mean any less rigorous math & science requirements, and typically the students taking the most challenging options for math and science chose to take experiential learning classes on top of them. Several of whom from my graduating class are going on to study medicine, law, and obtain masters degrees in other fields. I only wish there was more offered when I was at CKES/Vanier, as these trips were some of the best memories.
Up 38 Down 3
Alternative Thinking on Jan 24, 2017 at 10:36 pm
Here's an idea! Since I know we love our consultants up here in the 'Kon... I vote we hire some consultants! I also know our government people LOVE travelling so let's pair these consultants up and send them to Finland for 1 year to study their education system. You know, a country with an education system that actually works?! Or Germany for that matter! They have a GREAT education system! Kids here can barely speak one language. And enough of this forced First Nations learning! Stop trying to force culture of any kind on anyone. As if the residential schools wasn't bad enough now you're trying to make up for it by flipping the switch in the other direction?? Makes sense! Did you even bother asking anyonewhat they think of this forced learning? Most see it as an excuse to goof off or do homework for other classes. The truth hurts but you people are as clueless as it gets! Your policies are like my teenage high school years, TERRIBLE!!
Up 31 Down 3
Timesall on Jan 24, 2017 at 10:29 pm
Is it possible to have these two people, Arnold + Morgan, write the provincial exams first?
Empathetically it's probably good to notice that some people may find highschool or elementary school too difficult (I wasn't one of those) but more accurately, I did not have an easy time in post secondary education. To this day I keep writing skills books, take extra writing classes, teach myself proper sentence structure, re-read familiar books, and practice my arithmetic + English daily.
If I had stuck with what I learned in highschool I wouldn't be cut out for a basic service position.
I understand you're trying to engage the participants of education but that isn't the goals of education. This is where these two people should sit back and think logically.
What is the goal of educating the children of tomorrow?
- to create a workforce (8 hour shifts 1 hour lunch 2 15 minute breaks)
- to develop children's brains
- to provide them with the basic tools that will allow them to succeed in life.
Three kids in a canoe with a plankton net; where is the real world life application?
Instead we're going to get more day dreaming workers. "Wow, this sucks in comparison to sitting in a canoe. Why is my boss telling me I have to add these numbers properly? Why is my boss mad that I'm not finishing projects at work that I don't consider engaging?"
Please let Ms Morgan's children go through her idea of an academic program and we'll see how she feels about their success in life.
She never has to feel the direct effect of her cause because she's never had to raise children. Let parents instill morals and let them encourage sitting in a canoe and studying biology by discussing the fish they may have caught. You're about to grossly extend play time when education's purpose is disciplined repetition of the basics.
When these children can't survive in the global market of today we can be together for being taxed for the social welfare of tomorrow.
Outdoor ed, aces, buffalo hunt trips (funny they were just protesting this a few years back), fish camps, leadership classes, job placement
already a part of the curriculum.
It gives students a chance to have more say over what they want to learn and how they want to learn it, while strengthening their learning skills - that IS what the real world is about
When you're standing in the welfare line you can have a say whether the free coffee is too cold or too hot; but with their strengthened learning skills they'll learn how to flip the on switch to heat up the hotplate. THAT, is what the real world is about.
Eminem - Rock Bottom --- what you're setting these children up for.
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drum on Jan 24, 2017 at 9:21 pm
My very bright son was told by the powers that be in a Yukon School when he was in grade 2 that he was too immature to go into grade 3. He and I were bullied by the Principal, teacher and counselor. We were told that Yukon College was there to take all the students who did graduate (don't worry about it) and work with them. Well I took my son from that school, found him a school who welcomed him (principals set the whole tone for the school) and he blossomed and is a very successful man today. The school system not only bullies children it bullies parents.
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New curriculum to be disasterous on Jan 24, 2017 at 8:36 pm
This is a disaster for all concerned. We need graduates with real life skills: balancing a budget, managing a house, paying bills, being honest, showing up to work on time and working, and along with a host of life skills, how to communicate in English (or French) proficiently and how to do basic Math. This new curriculum is all over the place--it does not give teachers answers as to what they will be teaching nor how it will be assessed (it's up to each teacher to do what they want- Government has scraped the BCP's exams, teach fluff if they want). So…private school is sounding better all the time. I hate that my children are the guinea pigs of this experiment.
You want changes Judy and Nicole? Get some trade careers happening in early high school, grade 9. Look at the European model. This is just more garbage that does nothing to prepare kids for post secondary or life. I want my children to be have the preparation to go into a trade or go to university and be successful in a career. That's what I want school to give my children.
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ralpH on Jan 24, 2017 at 8:11 pm
@ in the system are You for real. That is exactly what is wrong with society today. Easy to sit back and blame everything on a unbalanced social scale. And that is exactly what this curriculum will do. What the education system should do is prepare students for the life ahead. And as I stated in my last post they should be assessing them early so they are trained in the areas that will suit them for the competitive life ahead. Everything else is just awareness and should not be part of the main educational curriculum.
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Martin on Jan 24, 2017 at 6:03 pm
And during the pic-nic lunch by the lake, when asked by the teacher about the science (physics, biology, etc.) they won't have a clue of what to say since they were left to 'study' at their own. Great. We know how self-motivated the 12 years old are.
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Max Mack on Jan 24, 2017 at 6:03 pm
Of course students should be taught the importance of protecting the environment. But, that is already happening - there is no shortage of educational bias on that front.
We have had multiple generations of kids pass through an educational system which is completely disconnected from how the world works. Apparently, solar panels and wind farms and rechargeable batteries and smart phones are made of unicorn farts and pixie dust.
What isn't happening - teaching our children the importance of cheap energy and resource extraction all the way through to manufacturing of products. Working with your hands is only considered good if it's "green", "organic", "renewable" and "earth-friendly".
Today's largely urban school-child has no concept of the extent to which modern technology and modern societies thrive on cheap, readily-available energy and mineral resources.
Where are the hands-on prospecting courses, the courses teaching children how to mine, how to farm, how to extract fossil fuels, how to lumber, how to process raw materials?
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Stan Walker on Jan 24, 2017 at 5:41 pm
Half baked educational programs will result in young adults who cannot compete with the well thought out programs in other areas of the country.
By all means have a few courses that are well meaning but test and grade and ensure the Yukon education standards equal the best in the country. Why settle for less?
I have encountered this before. Students who are ill prepared and not competitive in the real world. It fosters low self esteem and alienation from those who have a strong base of academic skills. Let's not be fooled by this program. Have a few electives that offer experiential learning but present the math and science and basic English reading and writing skills and test and retest to ensure those skills are learned and are second nature. Anything less is a form of theft from the students educational development.
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Nile on Jan 24, 2017 at 5:36 pm
And every special little snowflake that graduates high school with have mental health issues because they can't hack it in the real world but they will be fully trained Social Justice Warriors.
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Futurehomeschooler on Jan 24, 2017 at 5:11 pm
This is an atrocity.
Our local principal just told me that our students are two full years behind in literacy and numeracy. How are these fluff activities going to lay any type of real foundation for our children? These types of outdoor activities should be planned by community recreation departments or families during weekends and evenings, not at school.
If people would turn off their TV, IPAD and cell phone, there would be plenty of free family time to enjoy all the things that Yukon has to offer. Canoeing trips and other outdoors activities are not being done by the family unit anymore due to broken family structure or lack of motivation or time on the part of caregivers.
Many individuals choose to drink or do drugs vs. spending time with their families, when they should be teaching kids their values, their culture. School time should be spent on school work. Period. And while we are on the topic of inclusion and about diversity? Are FN students the only kids in the schools here? What about the Philipino community? What about people from Germany, or all other the world that also choose to make this their adopted home. How is "intercultural understanding and mutual respect" created with a focus only on one culture?
The vague terminology used of “Yukon First Nations ways of knowing and doing” is holding nobody accountable. It is this lack of accountability in the YT school system that is already appalling and driving many to home school their kids.
The goal is to show increased graduation rates without any thought of the future of the kids that we are pushing through the system here.
This new "curriculum" will make a generation of even less motivated youth that are even more illiterate and even less likely to succeed. How this can happen without public consultation is beyond my comprehension.
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Ms Morgan is a great teacher on Jan 24, 2017 at 5:03 pm
coach and ADM. Good changes at building the future. Wilf Carter
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Lost in the Yukon on Jan 24, 2017 at 4:33 pm
Here we go again ... let's remember how this "Deputy" ended up in the Yukon. Since around 2007 Education has seen nothing but ill-conceived change brought about by a string of fly-in administrators who in turn bring up "their own" people ... simply because those born and raised in the Yukon obviously know nothing about education and what is needed. This current DM continues the tradition.
But one things is a given ... within two years they'll be announcing yet another change because there is a new flavor of the month.
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In the system... on Jan 24, 2017 at 4:27 pm
Obviously no one who commented previously has any idea what kind of freedom this new curriculum redesign brings our education system.
It provides teachers the opportunity to teach their students within the context of the world we live in, the world that many of the students who are not succeeding will only ever know.
It allows for cross curriculum planning that doesn't just check specific learning outcomes off of the hundred page long curriculum documents that we have previously dealt with, knowing that ultimately, we won't meet all of the outcomes anyways.
It allows for teachers to create units that will provide openness that creates an opportunity for all students to succeed, not just those who are fully capable in all areas.
It gives students the chance to work with other students from other grades, and tie in the knowledge that they are acquiring to what the other grades are.
It allows teachers to assess based on what students CAN DO, not what they might not be able to do YET - highlighting strengths and goals.
It gives students a chance to have more say over what they want to learn and how they want to learn it, while strengthening their learning skills - that IS what the real world is about... that IS what post-secondary is about.
It allows teachers to show students how to be independent learners - focusing on strategies that help them learn best... that is also what the real-world is about..
...and finally...
It makes sense to parents (and students) who want to understand in a snapshot what is expected to be learned and practiced that year. I highly doubt there are many parents out there who look through the hundreds of page of curriculum expectations for each grade that their child is in.. though with this new curriculum, you can look at one simple page (for each subject) that highlights the expectations for the year.
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north_of_60 on Jan 24, 2017 at 4:25 pm
They can do these sorts of activities in the summer if they want to. None of this prepares students for jobs in the trades or admission to university.
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Just Sayin' on Jan 24, 2017 at 4:19 pm
"These curriculum changes reflect global trends in education, said McPhee."
Kids from other countries are not only coming out smarter, but are more competitive in the Global World. I cannot believe this drivel. How is one supposed to compete in the real world? Yes, there is something to said about 'learning by doing,' but how about we assume the children of today are not complete idiots and teach them how to culture bacteria? How to apply the knowledge they gain in Math and apply it to carpentry or other fields. I am sure Yukon College is salivating at the idea of most students having to upgrade before heading off to other post secondary institutions.
They have the option to rewrite? Ummm, in the real world, when I do not submit a project to standard I do not get to rework it, I get fired.
Why oh why do these discussions occur with out parental consultation? Why do these former gym teachers (Nicole Morgan) get to make academic choices for our children?
How does one setup a private school in Whitehorse because, I will be the first one to sign up my child.
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Really? on Jan 24, 2017 at 3:50 pm
I think the Whitehorse Star needs to do a little investigative reporting on Education in the Yukon and this isn't it. The so-called change in curriculum is simply window dressing just like the BC reject promoting it. A change in DM is sadly long overdue. Paddling a canoe across a Yukon lake does nothing to educate young people about Yukon First Nations and won't change anything of substance.
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ProScience Greenie on Jan 24, 2017 at 3:38 pm
Wow. Will definitely mean more kids going for upgrading at Yukon College to get a real grade 12. Might be seeing more parents sending kids to private schools as well. Perhaps even more home schooling. Not good.
Math and science will suffer at a time when we need more kids in STEM than ever to deal with our global problems. China and South Korea are going to walk all over us in the near future if this continues.
And we can't blame just the new Lib government for this as the YP also owns this.
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ralpH on Jan 24, 2017 at 2:42 pm
This is the worst news anyone could hear! Not only are we playing common denominator, but now we are straying further from an academic agenda that most Yukon students need for advanced studies at universities and colleges. Agreed awareness and education on cultural issues are important but do not prepare anyone for the competitive life ahead. What needs to happen is students need to be assessed early by grade nine and steered towards an education that prepares them for life. All the rest is fluff and is okay but only from the perspective of making everyone sensitive those around them. This will be a great waste of Yukon's talent.